I have never been shy in pronouncing my love for my main man, Smitty. To say the “cat is out of the bag” would seem a little ridiculous. So, I’m not saying that (even though I just did). What I am saying is that my sidekick of nearly six years has been more loyal than some friends and certainly more loyal than any boyfriend I’ve ever had. To say we are inseparable would be a bit of an understatement. Although I’ve been away from him for over a week and feel as if my heart may be missing. For that, I spoil him in anyway I can; whether it be a belly rub or some delicious home baked treats.

I’ve mentioned making pupcakes for my beloved pooch once before, but this time we’ve got a full blown tutorial. Sure, sure, you could shell out an astronomical $2.50 a pop at Sprinkles, but as delicious as their K9 treats may be… they’re missing one very important ingredient: your love. Sweet, I know. Don’t get used to it.

Anyway, these are very easy to make and are safe for your pooch to eat. Just don’t overindulge the little guy/girl… we all know what a cupcake hangover feels like. Not good.

It’s pretty clear that people are crazy for pumpkins. Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread. I mean, if you can add a pumpkin to it, people are gonna eat it. I know this because I saw a stand for pumpkin topped pizza at Half Moon Bay’s Pumpkin Festival this past weekend. The only thing I didn’t see was pumpkin wine… and I’m wondering when that’s gonna happen cause then I’ll be a truly happy camper. This leads me to believe that if you combined pumpkins and cupcakes… you’d really have a homerun. And someone’s beaten me to the punch…

There’s a magical place called Sprinkles where I first encountered the pumpkin cupcake and it was love at first bite. Sadly, there isn’t a Sprinkles on every street corner, so not everyone has access to such delightful baked goods. Lucky for you and me… and everyone else reading this post, I’m about to let you in on a little secret. Sprinkles was smart enough to realize that they just can’t franchise fast enough. So, they’ve packaged their cupcake goodness and you can buy it at Williams-Sonoma (and at their store, but if you don’t have a store then you can’t buy it… and if you were in the store, wouldn’t you just buy a cupcake?). This weekend, I took on the task of whipping up these babies.

Now, since I’ve been going on and on and on about pumpkin cupcakes… you probably would like to make them (and eat them). And because it will take too long to either 1) order and wait for your Sprinkles Cupcake Mix to arrive, or 2) find your closest Williams-Sonoma, I’ve taken the liberty of providing you with an alternate cupcake recipe (but have kept the Sprinkles Icing recipe – which is kinda the best part).

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup butter, softened

5/6 cups sugar

1 eggs, beaten until frothy

1/2 cup mashed cooked or canned pumpkin

3/8 cup milk

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz. cold cream cheese

1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, firm but not cold

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a bowl.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs.

Blend in mashed pumpkin.

Stir in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending until batter is smooth after each addition.